When Smokers Quit, Their Sinusitis Eventually Goes Away. In About 10 Years.

❝ Smokers with chronic rhinosinusitis who kick the habit should see their condition gradually improve to the level of a nonsmoker, although it may take 10 years, study findings suggest.

❝ Cigarette smoking is a known cause of chronic sinusitis and smoking also makes symptoms worse, so it stands to reason that quitting smoking would be beneficial to people with the condition.

But the newly published, cross-sectional study is actually the first investigation to quantify the severity of symptoms and quality-of-life impact of smoking on chronic rhinosinusitis…said senior author Ahmad Sedaghat, MD, PhD…

❝ In their effort to quantify the impact of smoking and smoking cessation on CRS symptoms, Sedaghat and colleagues utilized the aptly named SNOT questionnaire — a 22-item indicator of sinusitis symptom severity.

Har.

❝ They recruited 103 former smokers with CRS and an equal number of CRS patients with no history of smoking for the study. For the ex-smokers, time since quitting ranged from a few months to more than 50 years…

Outcome measures were compared between cohorts and checked for association with time since smoking cessation for former smokers.

❝ Compared with nonsmokers, former smokers had worse SNOT-22 scores and EQ-5D VAS scores and they also reported using more CRS-related antibiotics and oral corticosteroids in the past year.

Among former smokers, each year since quitting was associated with a statistically significant improvement in SNOT-22 score…

So, if you’re getting all bummed out because your dumb smoking habit is killing you – QUIT. You will feel better over time. Strictly subjective, I can verify that. I quit smoking 59 years ago. Progressive changes in lung function were really apparent the first couple of years – and extended through at least a decade.